Himalayan Brown Bear is an endangered species
A Himalayan Brown Bear was caught on camera taking a lazy stroll near Amarnath Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. The incident was recorded by an SDRF jawan who was deployed at the shrine for the annual pilgrimage.
An Indian Police Service officer Rayees Bhat posted the video on his Twitter account. The video shows the animal walking near the cave, despite human presence. "On the day (sic) preceding Shri Amarnath Yatra, A Himalayan Brown Bear strolls close to the holy cave. Thank you for the video, Shamsher of SDRF. Man comes close to nature during the annual holy pilgrimage," the officer wrote in the tweet.
Himalayan Brown Bear is a subspecies of the brown bear. It is mainly found in northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northern India, west China, and Nepal. Due to the loss of habitat and poaching, their number has declined sharply. They are on the "critically endangered" list.
The 60-day annual pilgrimage was scheduled to start from Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district Thursday morning. Over two lakh pilgrims have so far registered for the yatra which is scheduled to conclude on August 26.
The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir from one of the routes was suspended today due to heavy rain and multiple landslides in the valley. The third batch of pilgrims, who left for the yatra this morning, were asked to return. Traffic from Pahalgam, one of the twin routes to the cave shrine, has been suspended for now.
A batch of over 2,876 pilgrims had left a base camp in Jammu in a fleet of 90 vehicles under tight security this morning. However, they will now have to return from Chandanwari, 15 km from Pahalgam.
"No pilgrim was allowed to move towards the Cave Shrine because of rain and slippery conditions along the two treks," an official said.